Spinel-peridotite xenoliths from Kapfenstein (Graz Basin, Eastern Austria): A geochemical and petrological study

Ultramafic xenoliths from the basaltic tuff of Kapfenstein (Graz Basin) are mainly protogranular and protogranular- to- porphyroclastic spinel Iherzolites. In addition to these common rocks, a coarse-grained spinel harzburgite and a heterogeneous spinel peridotite consisting of a clinopyroxene-poor harzburgite and a clinopyroxene-rich Iherzolite have been found. Interstitial amphiboles (pargasite and kaersutite) are present in most xenoliths. The magmatic activity which brought these xenoliths to the surface is part of the Plio-Pleistocene extension-related alkali basalt volcanism which took place in the Carpatho-Pannonian Region, post-dating the subduction-related calc-alkaline volcanism which formed the Inner Carpathian arc. Mineralogical and bulk geochemical data for Kapfenstein xenoliths are similar to those for other sub-continental shallow mantle xenolith suites. Correlation diagrams for major and trace elements indicate that their chemical variations are related to different degrees of partial melting due to the extraction of mafic melts. Rare earth element (REE) patterns of separated clinopyroxenes from the xenoliths are generally light rare earth element (LREE)-depleted, although LREE-enriched and more complex patterns have also been found. Sr-87/Sr-86 and Nd-143/Nd-144 isotopic ratios of separated clinopyroxenes vary between 0.70193 and 0.70330 (epsilon(Sr) = -36.4 to -17.0) and 0.512824 and 0.513589 (epsilon(Nd) = 4.2 to 18.1), respectively. The highest Sr-87/Sr-86 and lowest Nd-143/Nd-144 ratios occur in those samples which have the most refractory character and also have the most unusual REE patterns. REE determined by ion microprobe on separated interstitial amphibole grains indicate equilibrium with the host peridotite in most of the xenoliths but disequilibirum conditions have been observed, including some extreme LREE enrichments. Striking textural and some geochemical and isotope geochemical similarities have been recognised between Kapfenstein xenoliths and those from the Eastern Transylvanian Basin, both of which are situated on the edges of the diapiric upwelling located in the central part of the Pannonian Basin. The deformation, depletion and enrichment processes which occurred in these two areas are thought to be similar. The LREE-enriched interstitial amphiboles and the presence of cross-cutting amphibole veins suggest that the shallow depleted lithospheric mantle beneath the Graz Basin has been affected by metasomatising events related to the mafic alkaline host magmas rather than by subduction-related fluids or melts.